Hers

In Defense Of Orthodoxy, 1923

Today an English bishop is holding a conference in Bucharest, as he did in Constantinople, on unifying our Orthodox Church with the Church of England. This is preposterous. Furthermore, it is a crime against our national being. We saw it coming and were expecting it. For

Religion And Identity In Interwar Romania: Orthodoxism

In the two decades between the world wars the majority of Romanian intellectuals were engaged in a grand debate about what it meant to be Romanian and how national character determined social and political development. [1] The ideological commitments of the protagonists

Pioneers Forever

Pioneer's honor if I lie to you! I don't know why, but I skipped school the day I was supposed to become an Oktombrel (a sort of junior pioneer), when I was in the first grade. You can imagine my suffering for not having participated in the ritual which made you

The Group

excerpt TEODOR: There's no need anyway. Bring me the notebook and you can manage it by yourself! (After a pause) Didn't you hear what I said?ILIE (in an undertone): Wait, I'll bring it to you later. . . TEODOR: I want now!ILIE: Now. . . I don't have it.

Why Spiridon Was Late

CHARACTERS: NEACSU SPIRIDON: sixth grade pupil, the head of the Pioneer Unit VICA: Neacsu Spiridon's classmate, pupil on dutyMARIANA: classmate of Vica and SpiridonA WOMAN: 30-35 years oldTHE TEACHER: 28-30 years oldPUPILS: Neacsu Spiridon's schoolmates The setting

Blue Evenings

excerpt VICA'S DIARY Vica had forgotten her diary under her pillow. Usually, she kept it in the drawer of her nightstand and in the evening, before turning off the light, she would write down her impressions of that day. Mica found it by chance. She was there tidying

Action P. 1500

excerpt FURTHER ON YOU WILL FIND OUT THAT I HAVE A GOOD MOTHER, A NAGGING SISTER AND A FATHER WHO ALWAYS YELLS Why should we lie, I know that you don't know my Christian name, nor my surname either. You have all heard that I am called Cry-Baby. Well, I was unfairly

The First Book, The Last Book

excerpts Dear Mother, I'd like to tell you something, and just because if I tried to talk to you about it, you wouldn't let me, I'm putting it in writing. You said to me, I quote: You go to school, do a good job there, finish well and we'll let you do

Novel Of The Nearsighted Adolescent

excerpt  VI. MONDAY, 8 TO 9, GERMAN When I was in the first grade, I flunked French, German and Romanian. I used to spend my afternoons barefoot on the pitch, sweating, short-sighted, playing oina. [1] I had become famous for the lightning rapidity with which I would catch

Parents Are To Be Educated (Sometimes)

How educated are the Romanian parents? I asked Martha Iliescu, the president of the organization Our Children, while I was looking for material for an editorial about teen mothers. I am told that, according to the survey Knowledge, skills and parental practices in Romania,

Two Wonder-Kids And A Female Cannibal

The jurist Matei Monorai lives nearby. If you'd hear him plead in court, you would not hesitate to call him Matei Golden Mouth. Ambrozie is on his way over, to ask Matei to plead for Vornicu, who has been sentenced to death. He arrives. Matei`s kids are playing outside,

Why Does The Child Boil In Polenta?

excerpt Mother and I were working in a chocolate factory. My mother's husband was not allowed to work. He had to leave the country regularly and apply for asylum again and again. He and my mother always talked about how to make some money. We wanted to steal chocolate